


Crossing the Line

by artificialdevil



Series: MikoTotsu Week 2018 [3]
Category: K (Anime)
Genre: M/M, MikoTotsu Week, Not Beta Read, OT3, two very gays who are pining for their King
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 17:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16937385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artificialdevil/pseuds/artificialdevil
Summary: There was a sort of balance in their little group of three that both of them were trying to maintain. The way they'd arranged it was so that they were always on one side of the line with their King on the other.(Written for MikoTotsu Week 2018)





	Crossing the Line

**Author's Note:**

> So, there was a little bit of controversy on tumblr about whether or not OT3s should be permitted during MikoTotsu week. But since the host of the event said that it's totally fine, I decided that I don't care about anyone else's opinions. You can skip over this one if Homra Trio isn't your cup of tea; all other entries for the week will be strictly MikoTotsu still.
> 
> Today's Prompt: Pining

No matter how idiotically carefree he acted most of the time, Tatara Totsuka was scarily perceptive. He was the first one to see the potential within his future King. From the moment he first laid eyes on Mikoto, he knew that the older boy was going to be something great. He could just see it in the way he carried himself. And Tatara knew that whatever that something was, he wanted to be a part of it.

It was an indescribable feeling, this pull that Tatara felt toward Mikoto from the first moment he saw him. At first, he thought perhaps it was love at first sight, but that didn't seem to be the case. This was something different, something stronger. Though that still didn't stop Tatara from _also_ falling in love with the redhead by the next Spring, as he was getting ready to enter high school.

He realized it while watching the man he called 'King' take a nap on the couch in Izumo's bar. Tatara had always gotten a sort of thrill when he looked at Mikoto, but in that moment he felt a different kind of rush; one that made an impossibly fond look spread over his face.

Tatara was fully aware that Izumo noticed the way that he would look at their friend from then on, but the older male never said anything about it. Not that he could even if he wanted to; Tatara had his number. He looked at Mikoto the exact same way. But there was a sort of balance in their little group of three that both of them were trying to maintain. It was hard to tell if Mikoto noticed it, but Tatara could tell that he did. Ironically, the clearest indication that he noticed was how much he pretended _not_ to notice. How he would always turn his back to the both of them once he decided they'd been looking for too long.

 

And so they kept that strange equilibrium going by drawing a metaphorical solid line with Izumo and Tatara on one side and Mikoto on the other. They never talked about it, but it was some kind of unspoken agreement between the oldest and youngest of the group that neither of them would act on their feelings. In Tatara's case, he knew that Izumo had held those feelings for longer. In Izumo's case, he knew that Tatara was the person who believed in Mikoto the most. Both respected the feelings of the other whilst refusing to give up on their own.

Acting was implicitly forbidden. But the lingering gazes Izumo would share with Mikoto and the soft words Tatara spoke to him that had an undertone of something more than just friendship and admiration – those things were not _quite_ forbidden. For his part, Mikoto seemed perfectly fine staying on his side of that line as well. They were comfortable like this, that was what they all told themselves.

Eventually, something's got to give though. You can only spend too long pining before it just becomes depressing and irritating. For Izumo and Tatara, five years was the amount of time they let pass before they realized that something had to change in this little arrangement. They were both aching too much to keep going like that.

 

The mood was light, playful even, when Izumo pulled Tatara into his lap that evening. Still so when Tatara lightly placed his hands on Izumo's shoulders. Tatara thought it was himself who closed the final distance between them when they kissed, but he wasn't really sure.

“This is fine, right?” Izumo asked him when they parted, faces still close enough for their breaths to mingle. The words were more than they implied. Of course, he was asking if Tatara was fine with this, but it was also a question of whether this counted as disturbing the balance they had tried so hard to keep for all these years.

“Yeah,” Tatara confirmed, speaking softly. “This is good.” After all, this wasn't really crossing the line, was it? The way they'd arranged it was so that they were always on one side of the line with their King on the other. As long as they were stuck on the same side anyway, they might as well be stuck there together.

That isn't to say that there was no genuine attraction between the two of them. Izumo and Tatara had fairly good chemistry, built up over many years of knowing each other. The younger smiled with a small puff of laughter. “I could fall for you, you know?”

Taking the brunet's chin between his thumb and forefinger, Izumo lifted it a bit so he could leave a few light kisses along Tatara's collarbone. “You _could_ ,” he repeated. “But-?”

Tatara hummed lightly before leaning down to kiss the older man's cheek before nuzzling his neck a bit. “No, that's it. No buts.”

Izumo maintained that he did not allow sex on the couch in his bar. But if some light necking and making out happened there that night, well... maybe _that_ much was okay.

 

Things changed a little after that night. While the two of them weren't _openly_ dating, they were certainly seeing each other and anyone who knew them could tell that they seemed somehow closer than before.

However, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The intense gazes, soft words, and lingering touches that both Tatara and Izumo shared with their King didn't stop. If anything, they indulged their desires to be close to Mikoto even _more_ than they had before. For Mikoto's part, he wasn't dumb enough not to realize that his best friends were sleeping with each other. He also wasn't dumb enough not to realize that they both wanted him. If he were anyone else, they wouldn't wait around for him forever like this, waiting for him to decide to accept or reject them. But Mikoto wasn't just anyone; he was their _King_. As far as Tatara was concerned, he could spend the rest of his life waiting for the redhead.

The pining was less painful than it had been, though. Having someone to share it with, even without saying as much, was a help. And Tatara found that he had been right; he ended up falling for Izumo quite easily once he was looking at him in such a way. And on Izumo's part, it was more of an impossibility _not_ to fall in love with Tatara once some of those absurdly soft and fond looks started being leveled in his direction. They both knew that the other still wanted Mikoto, they probably both always would. But they also started to realize that it was possible to love more than just one person.

 

After that revelation, it was almost inevitable that they would end up crossing that line. And to no one's surprise, it was Tatara who dove over it headfirst by wrapping his arms around Mikoto's shoulders from behind one day when it was just the three of them at the bar.

When the King grunted out a small questioning sound and turned his head a bit, the younger man brushed their lips together. “Say, King, just how long are you going to make us wait for you?” Looking across the room and locking eyes with Izumo, he added to the blond, “You too. Come and kiss King.”

And when, after another of those long steady gazes with Mikoto, Izumo _did_ walk over to share a kiss with him, their King decided not to make them wait any longer.

 


End file.
